Monogamy with God

Monogamy with God:

One of the reasons it's so hard to be in monogamous relationships with people these days is because we haven't committed to monogamous relationship with God. Or the other way around! We don't have a monogamous relationship with God because we're always in search of the "next best thing" with people. Either way, the God we claim to love and the people we claim to love are being cheated.
Yes, cheated.
Cheated out of our full heart.
Cheated out of an authentic relationship with us.
Cheated out of the depth the relationship could reach.
Cheated out of the return they deserve on their diligent investment.
Do we really want to be bad investments??? I don't (well, at least not anymore)!

Now let's address what may be keeping us from fully embracing the heart God is trying to create in us: We're cheaters. Emotionally, physically and/or spiritually, we're cheaters. We either have cheated or we're currently cheating. Somewhere in all this, we can't really "deal" with ourselves because we've messed up so bad. This is where we need to establish facts and truth. So here is the fact: Cheating is a sin; no matter how you spin it, no matter what the justification, it's wrong. But here is the truth: If we will confess our sins to Jesus, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John 1:9). The part of that verse that fills me so much is the cleansing from all wickedness. From that point, our sin doesn't have to be our whole life or identity anymore. That my friend, is freedom.

Now that we know we've cheated, how do we reclaim the relationship we originally desired?!
Let's focus on the monogamy with God.

1. Evaluate how much of our heart God really has.
Be honest. Do we really fully desire God or do we long for what He can do for us? Do we want His comfort but not His correction? Are we excited for his destination but scoff as His directions? Our hearts may not be in a perfect place, but they for sure need to be in an honest place.
2. Ask for a new heart.
If we're honest, the heart we have isn't really getting the job done. We need new ones. A new, fresh heart without the clutter, debris, personal agendas and misguided goals. From Psalm 51:10 we know that God can create a clean heart in us. Create, meaning made specifically for you. So, what God can do isn't the issue here, it's whether we'll ask or not.
3. DTR with God.
Yep. You read that correctly. It's time to DTR, Define The Relationship. So what exactly are you guys?! Where is this relationship going?! We've all had to have this conversation at some point in life (even if it didn't go the way we intended). But if we've completed the first steps, the answer to this question is monogamously committed. WHOO HOO!!! We're monogamously committed to God. Now what does that mean? This is time again to spend praying and developing this relationship. But in this union, we are choosing not to have the world (and the ways of the world) as a side piece. Not even a little bit. Because a little bit of the world is still a full affair on the Lord.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as needed.
Now let me explain. Is it okay to keep cheating on God? ABSOLUTELY NOT. But do you know what's worse, believing that we've strayed too far for God to love us and then choosing the world over Him completely. God desires to live in us and our greatest mission is to be intimate with Him. Nothing is to stop this perfect marriage from happening.